Thoughts on the Clemson game
Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2024 12:59 amThis isn't going to be long, but...
- I mentioned before the game that moving 11 inside had the chance to be disruptive, and it was, especially in the first half. We either had to take him 1v1 and he beat us, or we would double and then they would blitz a LB behind and it beat us. In the second half, we fixed the blocking, but the big adjustment was leaking Smith in the middle of the field to punish them for blitzing too much and dropping too deep. It was good that we made an adjustment, but it wasn't great that it took us so long to get there.
- More drops tonight than we had in total all season. Some of that is on the weather and Jennings... those gloves help when the weather is warm and you are trying to catch a rocket. When it is cold, it is really tough to catch a short pass thrown too hard. But some of it also was this being the biggest stage these guys have been on all season. Rodrick and Brashard don't drop those balls in any other game this season.
- I was surprised how much Byrd struggled with 3 especially in the beginning of the game. I thought he would be the type of physical player that Byrd would match up well with, but he was a step slow. Cleaned it up a lot in the second half. But I do think Byrd is a starting guard for us next season and we will go portalling for another tackle. He is doing his best out there and really should be commended for it. But his NFL position is guard, and I bet that is where he plays next season.
- I thought that clearly the attitude going into the game was "let's not mess this up" rather than "let's go out and win". They were trying to play to not get left out of the CFP rather than trying to win a championship. The offensive playcalling was conservative, the defensive playcalling was odd. Everything was off. The players were nervous. The nice thing is that all of that goes away if we get into the CFP. We will play a lot cleaner if we get in, because there is really nothing to lose.
- Defensively, I thought we were really overaggressive early in the game. We didn't let our defensive line get in a groove the first half - we just kept blitzing them and playing the safeties too tight. I think it was a mistake. 7 was really banged up and Clemson clearly wasn't going to be able to run the ball. We should have backed off, played pass defense, and let our front 4 stop the run. Too much zero coverage, which hurt us on the long TD pass because our safeties weren't as deep as they normally are to help on that play. In the second half, we let the guys up front do their thing and let our backers run to the ball and we were much, much better. I think the horrible field position issues early in the game got Symons to switch things up a little bit early instead of playing standard and seeing what Clemson was going to try and do on offense.
- BTW, if you haven't seen it, they did have offensive linemen downfield on the first TD. That is part of the reason Crossley reacts to go to the QB is because it can't be a pass. And that wasn't roughing the passer. And that was offensive PI on the pick play. That crap happens in road games against big teams. Everyone should be online reminding the committee that it was effectively a road game.
I'll close things up with this... that was an awesome college football game. Things like that are going to happen - it isn't going your way. And for 95% of the teams out there, when that happens, you crumble and you get killed. But not SMU. These guys kept fighting. Jennings kept his head up and kept fighting. That was an absolutely amazing performance. It was an away game - the crown was mostly Clemson, the stadium had Clemson colors at times. It was an away game against a massive program that is top 15 in the country. We lost turnovers 2-0. Lost penalties where they had none. We had a million drops. Clemson effectively played a perfect game on the evening. And it still took a last minute field goal to beat us. SMU has one hell of a football team, and anyone who actually watched that game knows that we should be in the playoffs. Even the media think it would be a travesty if we are left out. When they go through the list tomorrow, I bet that they keep Texas and Penn State in front of Notre Dame. If they do, that will be the first sign that we are in. If they drop Texas and Penn State behind Notre Dame, then they are going to use it to make a statement that teams can drop even if they lose the conference championship against a good team, and that won't bode well for SMU. Regardless of what happens, I'm just awestruck by this team and their competitiveness, and I'll be there regardless of where we play in bowl season to celebrate their greatness. That said, I am convinced that SMU is going to remain part of the playoffs. I'll see you in South Bend, Happy Valley, or Austin in two weeks.
- I mentioned before the game that moving 11 inside had the chance to be disruptive, and it was, especially in the first half. We either had to take him 1v1 and he beat us, or we would double and then they would blitz a LB behind and it beat us. In the second half, we fixed the blocking, but the big adjustment was leaking Smith in the middle of the field to punish them for blitzing too much and dropping too deep. It was good that we made an adjustment, but it wasn't great that it took us so long to get there.
- More drops tonight than we had in total all season. Some of that is on the weather and Jennings... those gloves help when the weather is warm and you are trying to catch a rocket. When it is cold, it is really tough to catch a short pass thrown too hard. But some of it also was this being the biggest stage these guys have been on all season. Rodrick and Brashard don't drop those balls in any other game this season.
- I was surprised how much Byrd struggled with 3 especially in the beginning of the game. I thought he would be the type of physical player that Byrd would match up well with, but he was a step slow. Cleaned it up a lot in the second half. But I do think Byrd is a starting guard for us next season and we will go portalling for another tackle. He is doing his best out there and really should be commended for it. But his NFL position is guard, and I bet that is where he plays next season.
- I thought that clearly the attitude going into the game was "let's not mess this up" rather than "let's go out and win". They were trying to play to not get left out of the CFP rather than trying to win a championship. The offensive playcalling was conservative, the defensive playcalling was odd. Everything was off. The players were nervous. The nice thing is that all of that goes away if we get into the CFP. We will play a lot cleaner if we get in, because there is really nothing to lose.
- Defensively, I thought we were really overaggressive early in the game. We didn't let our defensive line get in a groove the first half - we just kept blitzing them and playing the safeties too tight. I think it was a mistake. 7 was really banged up and Clemson clearly wasn't going to be able to run the ball. We should have backed off, played pass defense, and let our front 4 stop the run. Too much zero coverage, which hurt us on the long TD pass because our safeties weren't as deep as they normally are to help on that play. In the second half, we let the guys up front do their thing and let our backers run to the ball and we were much, much better. I think the horrible field position issues early in the game got Symons to switch things up a little bit early instead of playing standard and seeing what Clemson was going to try and do on offense.
- BTW, if you haven't seen it, they did have offensive linemen downfield on the first TD. That is part of the reason Crossley reacts to go to the QB is because it can't be a pass. And that wasn't roughing the passer. And that was offensive PI on the pick play. That crap happens in road games against big teams. Everyone should be online reminding the committee that it was effectively a road game.
I'll close things up with this... that was an awesome college football game. Things like that are going to happen - it isn't going your way. And for 95% of the teams out there, when that happens, you crumble and you get killed. But not SMU. These guys kept fighting. Jennings kept his head up and kept fighting. That was an absolutely amazing performance. It was an away game - the crown was mostly Clemson, the stadium had Clemson colors at times. It was an away game against a massive program that is top 15 in the country. We lost turnovers 2-0. Lost penalties where they had none. We had a million drops. Clemson effectively played a perfect game on the evening. And it still took a last minute field goal to beat us. SMU has one hell of a football team, and anyone who actually watched that game knows that we should be in the playoffs. Even the media think it would be a travesty if we are left out. When they go through the list tomorrow, I bet that they keep Texas and Penn State in front of Notre Dame. If they do, that will be the first sign that we are in. If they drop Texas and Penn State behind Notre Dame, then they are going to use it to make a statement that teams can drop even if they lose the conference championship against a good team, and that won't bode well for SMU. Regardless of what happens, I'm just awestruck by this team and their competitiveness, and I'll be there regardless of where we play in bowl season to celebrate their greatness. That said, I am convinced that SMU is going to remain part of the playoffs. I'll see you in South Bend, Happy Valley, or Austin in two weeks.
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